The URL can be used to link to this page

Home My WebLink About02-27-17 WRC Final MinutesTOMPKINS COUNTY WATER RESOURCES COUNCIL 1 Monday, February 27, 2017 2 TCAT Main Office Conference Room 3 Final Minutes 4 Attendance 5 Member Seat Member Seat Sharon Anderson P Cooperative Extension Frank Proto P At-Large John Andersson E At-Large Elaine Quaroni P At-Large Fay Benson E Agriculture Marjory Rinaldo-Lee P Environment Chris Bordlemay P Water Purveyor Michael Thorne E At-Large Cynthia Brock P Recreation Ed Bugliosi P USGS (non-voting) Brad DeFrees E Associate Member Liz Cameron P Co. Environmental Health Kristen Hychka P Associate Member Brian Eden P Interim EMC Liaison Roxy Johnston P Associate Member George Fowler P At-Large Emelia “Mia” Jumbo P Associate Member Bill George P Municipal Government Jose Lozano E Associate Member Barry Goodrich P Watershed Organization Darren MacDougall P Associate Member Michelle Henry P At-Large John Mawdsley P Associate Member Joan Jurkowich E Co. Planning Department Todd Miller P Associate Member Dooley Kiefer P County Government Steve Penningroth P Associate Member Darby Kiley P Municipal Government Joanne Trutko P Associate Member Lynn Leopold P Municipal Government Tom Vawter P Associate Member Kristin McCarthy P Co. Planning Department Linda Wagenet P Associate Member Jon Negley E Soil & Water Cons. District 6 A quorum was present. 7 8 Others: Liz Moran, Claire Weston, Dan Karig, CJ Randall, Lanny Joyce; Tara Blum (NYSDEC) joined by phone 9 10 Call to Order – Chair Darby Kiley called the meeting to order at approximately 4:18 PM. 11 12 Privilege of the Floor – None 13 14 Agenda Review/Changes – None 15 16 17 Approval of Minutes – MOTION by Marjory Rinaldo-Lee, seconded by Frank Proto, to approve the minutes of 18 January 23, 2017. Motion passed unanimously. 19 20 21 Presentation: Cayuga Lake Modeling Project – Liz Moran, EcoLogic, LLC 22 23 Liz Moran shared with the Council the findings of the Cayuga Lake Modeling Project (CLMP), a study conducted 24 by Cornell University for the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) that 25 creates a comprehensive model for examining how phosphorus enters the lake and how its presence affects 26 ecosystems both in the lake and throughout its watershed. She had given a similar talk the month prior to the 27 WRC’s Cayuga Lake Monitoring Partnership committee. A copy of her presentation can be found on 28 the Council’s website. 29 30 A question-and-answer session followed in which the group discussed the impact of the project’s findings on 31 long-term lake and watershed management and the next steps to be taken once the NYSCDEC takes ownership of 32 the CLMP. Some topics covered included the following: 33 34 • whether different time intervals were taken into account when testing the model – 10 35 years was used; 36 • how NYSDEC will be measuring bioavailable phosphorous – researchers have the tools 37 to derive from other phosphorus measurements; 38 • whether this model could be applied to any of the other Finger Lakes – this could be used 39 for Owasco and other lakes; 40 • when the NYSDEC will release the draft TMDL – May; 41 • whether there is flexibility in the model to accommodate development – yes; 42 • if the model calculates the amount of sediment and phosphorus coming from the various 43 non-point sources, such as eroding banks, legacy sediment, or land use (agricultural, 44 residential, etc.). It is not known. 45 46 47 Presentation: A Deep Water Monitor Well in Inlet Valley – Dan Karig and Todd Miller 48 49 Dan Karig and Todd Miller spoke to the group about a well drilling project that would (most likely) take place 50 this fall in the Inlet Valley. Their hope was to convince the WRC to take an interest in the project and advocate 51 support for it with the County. Dan presented on the geologic background of the proposed drilling site in Inlet 52 Valley and greater surrounding area. Todd subsequently discussed the technical details involved with such a 53 project. To date, no wells have been drilled in the Inlet Valley. 54 55 Andy Kozlowski, the acting state geologist, and his staff are undertaking a mapping project to create a glacial 56 geological history across a swath of New York, from the shores of Lake Ontario to the Pennsylvania border, and 57 will be drilling to bedrock at numerous sites and taking continuous core samples all the way down. One of the 58 first holes he has expressed interest in drilling in our area is in the Inlet Valley. Given that the state would be 59 paying for the bulk of this project, Todd and Dan argued that it was a good opportunity for area scientists to 60 obtain important local geologic information with minimum expense. Their hope is to chip in $5,000-$10,000 to 61 cover the cost of well casings so that the casings can stay in place and the wells can continue to be studied once 62 the state has finished its exploration here. 63 64 Todd and Dan will talk to Joan Jurkowich and Ed Marx in the County Planning and Sustainability Department as 65 well as to officials from the Town of Ithaca. The group discussed whether a resolution from the WRC to 66 encourage support for the project would be of help. Cynthia Brock asked if the City of Ithaca is a possible source 67 of funding, and Frank mentioned that the Council’s Grants committee had compiled a schematic of all the grants 68 available for area projects. 69 70 Committee Reports 71 72 Watershed Rules and Regulations – Chris Bordlemay and Liz Cameron 73 74 • Chris has been collaborating with Roxy Johnston on rewrites of both the City of Ithaca’s and Cornell’s 75 watershed rules and regulations. Liz is researching related procedural issues. 76 • Members are looking into how to get on notification lists for activities occurring in the watershed and 77 searching for a couple of students to assist them with projects. 78 • Eileen O’Connor, environmental health director for Cayuga County, will speak about the Owasco Lake 79 watershed at their next meeting. 80 81 Education and Outreach – Lynn Leopold 82 83 • The committee met earlier that afternoon. 84 • They tightened up language in the paddling brochure to accommodate space constraints in the layout. 85 • There was nothing to report on the Canal Corporation project. 86 87 Chair Report – 88 89 Darby passed around a draft list of committee assignments for people to verify. Chairs can be chosen at first 90 meeting. Either Kristin or Darby will send email addresses for new WRC members to committee chairs. 91 92 Staff Report – 93 94 None 95 96 Announcements 97 98 Frank Proto asked Liz for an update on the Salmon Creek manure spill, which happened about 15 miles north of 99 the mouth of Cayuga Lake and at first seemed contained to Cayuga County. More details can be found in the two 100 media releases put out by the Tompkins County Department of Public Information. Michelle Henry mentioned a 101 similar incident that occurred at the Chaffee Creek sampling point in Newfield. 102 103 Next month, EMC interim liaison Brian Eden will present on salt mining and Cayuga Lake. Following that, in 104 April, Fay Benson will give a demonstration of his soil health trailer. 105 106 Brian Eden told the group about the Water Law for Activists symposium being held at Cornell on March 25th. 107 108 Adjournment – MOTION by Frank Proto, seconded by Lynn Leopold, to adjourn. Chair Darby Kiley declared 109 the meeting adjourned at approximately 5:53 PM. 110 111 Prepared by Kristin McCarthy, Tompkins County Planning and Sustainability Department 112 Approved by Water Resources Council: March 20, 2017 113